Introduction

Introduction The writing of cultural and intellectual history constitutes an unusual challenge: it's difficult to do it without having one's attention turned back on oneself. Insofaras such history plumbs themeaning ofwords, gestures and artifacts injected into society by man, it deals with identity and the specific expression ofa given society. We arereminded by recentdebateson regional history and limited identities that this technical problem is paralleled by, shall we say, a cultural problem. Canada still suffers from a bit oftrouble with its identity: it's whatcould becalled our national arthritis! But enough ofanecdotal diagnoses; letus makeway for science; let us define the state ofresearch in Canadian cultural and intellectual history. Wehad decided to identify thedominant AND marginal mainstreamsofideas and cultural forms, and to point out thegaps and common methodological problems while providing, in one volume, a bibliography ofcore research in this area.* The approach taken isa regionalonefor reasons morescientific than political. Indeed, we felt that progress could be made as long as discussion centred on indepth studies ofspecific areas and periods so as to go beyond vagueor ideological generalities that state the realities ofOntario to be those ofCanada as a whole. It is evident from this collection ofarticles that the Laurentian vision ofCanadian history is a thing ofthe past! We had also decided to examine cultural as well as intellectual history,just as much in its manifold forms ofexpression - the spoken word, gestures, the material culture, themedia - as inthewritten form favoured by elites. The result is indicativeofthestateofresearch: in English Canada, unlikeQuebec, the history ofideas occupiescentrestage, leavingin the background problems oftheirsocial diffusion and permeation still to be faced. The truth is that these questions ofmethodology - who says whatto whom, how and why - have a political and ideological reference. Indeed, can one legitimately generalize for Canada as a whole ideas or behaviour ofwhich the spread and acceptance have yet to be analysed in in-depth studies? As far as this study is concerned, ifcultural history is to become regional it necessarily becomes social. It is obvious that a defense ofa micro-analytical method that examines data pertinent to one region or social group does not ignore the problem of the relationship between region and nation. It presents it in another way, one that we would call inductive rather than deductive. By means ofa geographical study of cultural phenomena we shall find out, for example, whether there is a pattern in the developmentofthe public library in Canadaand whatthe behaviours ofpre- * Five ofthe seven articles published here were papers presented at a round-table discussion of the HistoricalSociety of Canada on trends in the cultural and intellectual history of Canada, at the conference ofthe Learned Societies ofCanada held at Laval University, Quebec, on I June 1989. Journal of Canadian Studies Vol. 24, No. 3 (A111om11e 1989 Fall) 3 industrial rural and urban majoritiesmight have in common; weshall seewhether the voluntary association and Mechanics' Institute share a common culture; we shall see whetherculture basedon co-operation was the same in Antigonish and Calgary and whether Quebecalone was "a priest- or minister-ridden province." The question is simply that ofknowing thecommondenominator shared by both a seaport and a settler culture and by Quebec and Prairie agricultural societies. In Canada are we to talk about a forged or a forced culture? * * * YVAN LAMONDE McGill University L'histoireculturelle etintellectuelleconstitueunface a face particulier: ii est difficile de la pratiquer sans etre renvoye a soi-meme. Dans la mesure ou cette histoire prospecte la signification des mots, desgestes, desartefacts projetes dans la societeparl'homme, ellerenvoiea l'identite, acequ'exprimedespecifiquetelle societe. Les debats recentsautourdel'histoire regionaleetdes "limitedidentities"nous rappellent que cet inconfort scientifique sedouble d'un inconfortdisons culture!. Le Canada a toujours un peu ma! a son identite: la est notre arthrite nationale! Mais, treve de diagnostic etplace a la science, placea un etat des recherches en histoire culturelle et intellectuelle du Canada. Nous nous etions proposed'identifier Jes courants d'idees et Jes formes culturelles dominants ET marginaux de l'historiographie socio-culturelle canadienne, de souligner les lacunes et Jes problemes methodologiquescommuns touten foumissant, sousdeuxcouvertures, la bibliographic des etudes essentielles dans le domaine.* L'approchechoisieest regionale. Elle le fut pourdes raisons plus scientifiques que politiques. II nous semblait en...